1936 On the Continent

before the Hungarian conquest.
    The Hortobágy is the property of the town of Debrecen. It is the grazing-land of the municipal stud, of the
gulya
which is the Hungarian name for the cowherd, together with municipal sheep and pigs. The animals spend most of the year in the open air.
    Hundreds of shepherds watch over them. The Hungarian
juhász
—the shepherd—is still leading a life familiar to that of the old Hungarian conquerors in this huge steppe, whose silence is only disturbed by the hoofs of excited horses, the tinkling bells of grazing sheep or the flapping of the wings of the wild birds over them.
    In these days practically every foreigner pays a visit to the Hortobágy to see this Eastern marvel. It has a hundred-year-old inn, called
csárda
in Hungarian (from this is derived the word
csárdás
, the Hungarian national dance). Near the old inn the famous “Bridge-Market” takes place every year on the last Thursday in June. On these occasions a great multitude of carts are to be found in the vicinity of the old inn, immortalised by the poet Petöfi; and thousands of people from the neighbourhood congregate there. It is a most picturesque sight. You can see cattle-men (the
gulyás
) standing like statues, and wearingtheir famous and lovely native cloaks. The cloak is called
szür
and has a more ornamental variety—the
cifraszür
—which is a most interesting sight. It is made of sheepskin, worked by master-craftsmen according to a centuries-old tradition. In the winter the furry side is worn inside; in the summer the other side. The shepherd’s garb is the same as that of the
gulyás
. The
csikós
(ranch-man) wears a home-spun garment, dark blue trousers of great width, and a wide-brimmed felt hat, ornamented with a bustard feather. The
csikós
is the cowboy of Hungary. He rides without a saddle or on a tiny embroidered affair which is not even supported by girths.
    On the Hortobágy you can witness one of the most interesting of nature’s spectacles—the Fata Morgana.
    The fisheries of the Hortobágy are very valuable. Here the most tasty freshwater fish, such as carp, perch, pike and sheat fish are reared in ten large artificial basins. This industry keeps three hundred men busy and it produces about 6,000 cwt. of fish every year.
    Perhaps the most “Hungarian” provincial town of the country is Debrecen. It is Protestant and is often called “Calvinist Rome.” It has a long history; it was already inhabited in the thirteenth century. Its colonies, however, were devastated by the onslaughts of the Tartars, and it was only in the following centuries that the town re-developed itself. Its commerce and industry was already well known in the eighteenth century. Its old Protestant college was founded in 1550. Near the college is the Déry Museum, rich in eastern Asiatic weapons, coins, Greco-Roman terra-cotta statues, and lovely Flemish gobelins. Its picture-gallery contains, among other valuable objects, the world-famous canvas of Mihály Munkácsy, “Ecce Homo.”
    The most beautiful part of the town is the
Nagyerdo
(Great Forest). It appears to be a little spa in itself, with an up-to-date stadium, strands of natural hot water, a large closed-in swimming pool, and excellent restaurants. Here the first crematorium in Hungary has been erected, but it is not yet in use. The new university of Debrecen, built in the same forest, is rivalling with its up-to-date equipment the most modern scats of learning in Europe. This famous university was built first and foremost through the efforts of the inhabitants of Debrecen. Collectionsfor the university were started long before the War, and the peasant-millionaires were very generous in offering their money. These “millionaires” must not, of course, be compared with their English or American namesakes, because then they would inevitably appear to be poor men, but in their goodwill and love for their town they have surpassed all other rich men. In those days sums like 50 or 100 kronen were subscribed. When the subscription sheets were handed to Bálint Lencsés Nagy, the richest of all peasant-millionaires in Debrecen, he wrote down the number 100.
    “But Uncle Bálint,” said the collector, a little startled, “you have made a mistake. You have put your hundred where donations of a thousand kronen should go.”
    Bálint Lencsés Nagy meditated for a moment.
    “Well, I think it’s all the same now,” he mumbled. Then he produced a weather-beaten,